Former All-Star pitcher Joey Jay passed away last month at age 89, according to an obituary from a Florida funeral home. A 6’4″ right-hander, he pitched 13 seasons in the big leagues.
A native of Middletown, Connecticut, Jay signed with the Milwaukee Braves for a $20K bonus in 1953. Under the so-called “bonus baby” rules of the time, a player who signed for more than $4K could not be assigned to the minor leagues. Jay therefore jumped right to the majors as a 17-year-old for the 1953 season. He remarkably tossed 10 scoreless innings in an abbreviated stint. He only made 15 appearances the following year, struggling to a 6.50 ERA across 18 innings in his age-18 season.
After two seasons in the majors, Milwaukee was able to assign Jay to the minors. He wouldn’t make a permanent return to the big leagues until 1958, his age-22 campaign. Jay pitched well in a swing role over the next three years. His career really took off when he was dealt to the Reds as part of a package for Gold Glove shortstop Roy McMillan during the 1960-61 offseason.
Cincinnati plugged Jay into the rotation. He seized on his first permanent rotation spot, working to a 3.53 ERA over 247 1/3 innings covering 34 starts. He led the National League with 21 wins and four shutouts among his 14 complete games. Jay was selected to both All-Star teams in 1961 — MLB had multiple All-Star games for a few years during that time — and finished fifth in NL MVP balloting. Three of the four players above him (Frank Robinson, Orlando Cepeda, Vada Pinson and Roberto Clemente) went onto Hall of Fame careers.
The Reds finished 93-61 that season to secure the NL pennant before the introduction of the Championship Series. Cincinnati met the Yankees in the World Series. Jay got the ball in Game 2 and tossed a two-run complete game to get the victory. That’d be the Reds’ only win of the set. Jay was hit hard in the Game 5 clincher, as the Yanks tagged him for four runs without allowing him to escape the first inning.
That season was the highlight of Jay’s career, but he had another productive season in 1962. He again won 21 games with a 3.76 ERA through a personal-high 273 innings. While his production tailed off from there, he remained a fixture of the Cincinnati rotation through ’65. The Reds dealt him back to the Braves, who were playing in Atlanta by that point, midway through 1966. He finished his career with nine appearances there before being released.
Jay ended his playing days with 3.77 ERA in more than 1500 innings. He fell one win shy of the century mark and was one strikeout away from reaching 1000. Jay’s obituary notes that he went on to run companies in West Virginia and Florida during his post-playing days. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.